Treesearch

Recent approaches to fisheries research emphasize the importance of the coproduction of knowledge in building resilient and culturally mindful fisheries management frameworks. Despite widespread recognition of the need for Indigenous knowledge and historical reference points as baseline data, archaeological data are rarely included in conservation biology research designs. Here we propose a novel multiproxy method to learn from former fisheries stewards by generating archaeological data on past salmonid population parameters. We used a newly developed, high throughput qPCR (HT-qPCR) chip,...

Niche partitioning is critical for the stable coexistence of competing species that share limited resources. Yet, niches are dynamic, especially in the face of rapid environmental change. Carnivores exhibit particularly strong forms of competition and are differentially affected by change. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) and martens (Martes caurina) are two species of carnivores that overlap in space, time, and resources. In the Sierra Nevada of California, these two species share habitats that are undergoing a sudden restructuring due to drought and the subsequent mortality of more than half...

Wildfires, which are increasing in frequency and severity with climate change, reduce soil microbial biomass and alter microbial community composition and function. The soil microbiome plays a vital role in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling, but its complexity makes it challenging to predict post-wildfire soil microbial dynamics and resulting impacts on ecosystem biogeochemistry. The application of biogeochemically relevant conceptual trait-based frameworks to the soil microbiome can distill this complexity-enabling enhanced predictability of soil microbiome recovery following wildfire...

Global wildfire activity has increased since the 1970s and is projected to intensify throughout the 21st century. Wildfires change the composition and biodegradability of soil organic matter (SOM) which contains nutrients that fuel microbial metabolism. Though persistent forms of SOM often increase postfire, the response of more biodegradable SOM remains unclear. Here we simulated severe wildfires through a controlled “pyrocosm” approach to identify biodegradable sources of SOM and characterize the soil metabolome immediately postfire. Using microbial amplicon (16S/ITS) sequencing and gas...

It is well documented that human-mediated dispersal of nonnative species plays a large role in the success of invasion (Liebhold and Tobin 2008, Annu. Rev. Entomol. 53: 387-408; McClure 1990, Environ. Entomol. 19(1): 36-43; Suarez et al. 2001, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 98(3): 1095-1100). Nonnative invasive insects, particularly ants, are found across many terrestrial ecosystems worldwide (Bradshaw et al. 2016, Nat. Commun. 7: 12986). Aspects of their biology, colony and nest structure, diet, habitat preferences, and the ease of dispersal make invasive ants challenging pests (Holway...

In North America, white-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused precipitous declines in hibernating bat populations, raising the question of whether the rapid loss of arthropodivorous bats may affect the abundance of their prey. During the summers of 2015–2018 (1 year after the arrival of WNS in Wisconsin, USA), we performed intensive arthropod black-light trapping, ultrasonic acoustic monitoring, and emergence counts at 10 little brown (Myotis lucifugus) and big brown (Eptesicus fuscus) bat maternity roosts with paired control sites. For little brown bats, which are severely affected by WNS, roost...

Coastal forests in the eastern United States are increasingly threatened by hurricanes; however, monitoring their initial impacts and subsequent recovery is challenging across scales. Understanding disturbance impacts and responses is essential for sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation. Using Sentinel‑2 imagery, we calculated the annual Normalized Difference Vegetation Index change (ΔNDVI) of forests before and after Hurricane Michael (HM) in Florida to determine how different forest use types were impacted, including the initial wind...

The U.S.-Canada softwood lumber dispute stands as the most protracted trade conflict between the two countries, with its history dating back to the early 1980s. U.S. lumber producers claim that Canadian lumber imports are unfairly subsidized, thereby, harming the domestic lumber industry. The U.S. has imposed countervailing and antidumping duties on Canadian softwood lumber imports to protect the domestic market. An important aspect of this trade dispute is the substitutability of lumber products between the two countries. Canadian lumber imports are detrimental to the U.S. industry only...

For a few years, it seemed as if everything was burning down. In 2020 and 2021, in California, Oregon and Washington, US fire records were shattered, with devastating effects for wildlife habitat. In 2020, 4 million hectares of drought-stricken wetland and savannah burnt in the Brazilian Pantanal region, killing 17 million animals. In late 2019 and early 2020, bushfires raged during the height of summer in Australia, burning an astonishing 10.3 million hectares of shrubland and forest, corresponding to just under half the area of the United Kingdom. Writing in Nature, Driscoll et al....

Hunting has important social, cultural, economic, and conservation benefits. Information on hunters’ motivations and expectations for a hunting experience can help support decision-making by state and federal wildlife managers. We surveyed deer (Odocoileus spp.) and elk (Cervus canadensis) hunters participating in controlled hunts in eastern Oregon to describe hunter characteristics and experiences, including the importance of hunting motivational factors and specific setting attributes (2017–2019; n = 501). We compared differences between hunters’ ratings of importance and satisfaction...